Shloka 17
Adhyāya 41 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Gurv-anumati and Strategic Counsel (युधिष्ठिरस्य गुर्वनुमतिः)
सम्बन्ध--ग्यारहवें. बारहवें और तेरहवें शलोकोरमें सत्व
sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva ca | pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ’jñānam eva ca ||
Arjuna dijo: De sattva nace el conocimiento claro; de rajas nacen, sin duda, la codicia y el afán de poseer; y de tamas nacen la negligencia y el extravío—en verdad, la ignorancia misma. Éticamente, el verso traza una psicología moral: la claridad sostiene el discernimiento, la pasión alimenta la avidez, y la inercia engendra confusión y descuido.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a causal link between the three guṇas and characteristic mental-ethical outcomes: sattva produces discerning knowledge, rajas produces greed and acquisitive craving, and tamas produces heedlessness, delusion, and ignorance. It functions as a diagnostic of character and conduct.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s teaching context, Arjuna articulates (or frames) a doctrinal point about how the guṇas manifest in human cognition and behavior, clarifying why the arising of knowledge, greed, and delusion are taken as signs of the increase of sattva, rajas, and tamas respectively.